Railway car coupler positioning device



Jan. 23, 1934. G. s. GILPIN RAILWAY CAR COUPLER POSITIONING DEVICE Fi led Sept.

2 Sheets-Sheet l w A M J); ventor GaIt/L G'- GIZI UI'n/ n-w In flizforney Jan. 23, 1934. G. G. GILPIN 1,944,422

RAILWAY CAR COUPLER fOSITIONING DEVICE Filed Sept. 16, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 7M 7 z Z 2 n venzfor Garth G. Gi/ w'n/ 4 i form/q Patented Jan. 23, 1934 UNITED STATES RAILWAY CAR COUPLER. POSITIONING DEVICE Garth G. Gilpin, Riverside, Ill., assignor to Union Metal Products Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application September 16, 1931 Serial No. 563,141

3 Claims.

The invention relates to railway cars and more particularly to means for swingably suspending a railway car coupler from an adjacent car part by supporting the coupler carrier from such car part by a pair of links, such devices being called coupler centering devices. My Patent #1,658,120 of February 7, 1928, illustrates such a device which is now in use on thousands of railway cars and this invention is an improvement thereupon and one of its objects is to provide a removable bearing for the upper end of one (or both) of the trunnion links which bearing is so formed and associated with the other correlated car parts that after the attaching means for the bearing has been removed, the hearing may be removed and replaced without removing the supporting link from, the adjacent car part or disconnecting the link from the carrier.

When the bearings for the swinging links of the present centering devices are worn the coupler is lowered, which is undesirable becausethe railroads endeavor to maintain all couplers at a standard height (34 from the rail) to facilitate coupling. Another object of the invention is to provide a removable bearing for the swingable link which, when worn can be. readily replaced by a new one, thus bringing the coupler back to its standard height. Furthermore, it is much cheaper and easier to replace a small bearing member than to remove and replace a much larger striking or bufling casting upon which the bearings for the present links are provided.

Fig. 1 shows a typical application of my device to a swingable coupler carrier.

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 shows on the right of the center line a plan view of Fig. 1 and on the left half a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1 with the link and carrier removed.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section of the casting showing the bearing member in elevation.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged section of the casting showing the bearing member in plan.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged side elevation of Fig. 4.

Figs. '7 and 8 show the removable bearing member.

Fig. 9 is a detail of the coupler carrier.

Fig. 10 is a detail of the link.

The usual parts of the car are shown, such as the striking casting or car part 2; coupler 3;

coupler carrier 4 having lugs 5 to retain the coupler 3 central thereof and having spaced apart portions 7 at each end with each end with each 55 portion having an inverted bearing 8 for a trunnion; links 10 each having a shank 11 with trunnions 12-12 at each end thereof; the striking casting or ear part 2 is secured to the draft sills 14 by the usual rivets 15.

In the coupler centering device now in general use, the various parts are so positioned and dimensioned that the links cannot be removed from the bearings in the car part or carrier while the coupler is in its normal position on the carrier, '(Patent No. 1,658,120 February 7, 1928 page 2, lines 72-78) but certain types of couplers are so fastened to the shock absorbing mechanisms that it is difficult and expensive to detach the coupler from such mechanism, therefore, it becomes desirable to provide means to remove the carrier from the car part while the coupler is in place. Furthermore, swivel butt couplers are now quite generally used, the rear ends of which (see Patent $41,431,717 of October 10, 1922) are larger vertically than the shank of the coupler, and the use of such couplers also makes it advisable to provide means whereby the carrier may be removed while the coupler is in place, and in fact,

in some cases, it is actually necessary to remove the carrier before the coupler can be removed. These conditions made it necessary to reduce the height of the semi-cylindrical hearings in the striking casting or car part so the upper trunnions of the link could be moved laterally out of its bearings and therefore prevent the link from jumping out of its bearings (due to heavy coupling impact) such retaining means as shown in patents Small 1,673,474, June 12, 1928, and, Small 1,746,561, Feb. 11, 1930 being resorted to. My device eliminates the necessity of such retaining means. Instead of moulding the trunnion pockets for the upper link trunnions in the striking casting or car part, I provide the supporting ledge or shelf 20 or any means to support a removable bearing member 21. This member 21 preferably comprises a wall 23 and a pair of spaced apart arms 24 between which the link 10 swings. Each of these arms 24 is provided with a semicylindrical bearing 26 to engage a trunnion 12 on the link. The car part is provided with a portion 28 which restricts the upward movement of the coupler 3 and the vertical depth of the semicylindrical bearings 26 is greater than the permissible upward movement of the coupler so that after the device is assembled the trunnion 12 of the link cannot jump out of the bearings 26 of the removable bearing member 21 nor can the link 10 be accidentally or maliciously removed from its bearings.

The bottoms of the arms 24 are substantially flat and rest upon the shelf but beyond the center of the semi-cylindrical bearings 26 these bottoms are arcuate or mounted substantially concentric with the bearings whereby, after the attaching means 28 for the bearing have been removed and trrmnion 12 of the link slightly raised, say to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. l, the bearing member 21 may be removed from the car part by an arcuate movement of the bearing member 21 without removing thelink from the car part, or disconnecting the link 10 from the carrier 4. The bearing member 21 is swung or pivotally moved to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. i and then moved laterally from the car. The wall 23 is positioned outside or" the trunnion 12 of the linlr so as not to interfere with the removal of the bearing member 21.

After the bearing member 21 is removed the 'trunnions 12 drop until they engage the supporting ledge or shelf and support the carrier 4 and coupler 3, thereby obviating the necessity of any temporary support for thecoupler.

The car part 2 is provided with a depression or aperture 36 which engages the lip or projection 38 on the bee 'ing member 41 to restrict the movement of the bearing member laterally of the car,

illustrated may be used on either side or" the car without providing right and left bearing members.

ferred form of the invention, though it isfto be understood that'the inventicn'is not limited to the exact details of construction shown'and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof, within thescope of the claims, will occur to pe sons skilled in the art I claim:

1. In a railway car, the combination of a coupler, a car part restricting the upward movement of the coupler and provided with a shelf, acoupler carrier, a separate bearing member supported by said shelf and comprising a pair of spaced apart arms connected by a wall, each of The accompanying drawings illustrate the pr 7 aperture toaccommodate"attachingmeans, the

said arms provided with a semi-cylindrical bearing, the bottoms of said arms beyond the centers of the bearings being arcuate substantially concentric with said bearings, the depth of said bearings being greater than the upward movement of the coupler, a link provided with a trunnion adjacent to its upper end engaging said bearings, said link being pivotally connected to one end of said carrier and means to attach the bearing member to the car part whereby after the attachin meanshave been removed, the bearing member may be removed from the car part by an arcuate movement thereof without removing the link'from the car part.

2. In a railway car, the combination of a coupler, a car part restricting the upward movement of the coupler and provided with a shelf, said car part provided with an aperture, a coupler carrier, a separate bearing member supported by said shelf and comprising a pair of spaced apart arms connected by a wall each of said arms provided with a semi-cylindrical bearing the bottomsof said arms beyond the centers jofthe bearings being arcuate substantially concentric with. said bearings; the depth of said "bearings being greater than the upward movement or" the coupler, bearing member provided with a portion engaging said aperture to restrict the lateral movement of the bearing member, a link provided witha trunnion adjacent @35 its upper end engaging said bearings, said link being pivotally connected to one end of said carrier and means to attach the bearing member to the carpart whereby after the attaching means have been removed, the bearing member may be removed from the carpart by an arcuate inove- .ment thereof without removing thelink from the car part.

3. Asa-n article of manufacture a removable bearing member for a suspension link for a railway car coupler 'swingable carrier, said member comprising a pair of spaced apart arms and a wall connecting said arms each of said arms provided with a semi-cylindrical bearing and an I bottoms of said arms being flat on one side of the center of said bearing and arcuate substantially concentric with said bearings-on the other side ofsaid center, saidbearing provided with a I lug engageable with an adjacent car part to restrict lateral movement "or" the bearing.

GARTH G. 'GILPI'N.

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